Supplemental seat for dental chairs and the like



Sept. 22, 1953 l.. c. HoLTzENDoRl-F SUPPLEMENTAL SEAT FOR DENTAL CHAIRSAND THE LIKE Filed May 8, 1950 INVENTOR L. C. HOLTZENDORFF ATTORNEYSPatented Sept. 22, 1953 SUPPLEMENTAL SEAT FOR DENTAL CHAIRS AND THE LIKELucian C. Holtzendorlf, Valdosta, Ga. Application May 8, 1950, SerialNo. 160,694 3 Claims. (Cl. 155-131) This invention relates to asupplemental seat for dental chairs and the like.

In the treatment of their teeth, dentists encounter diiiiculty intreating small children, not only because of their size, but alsobecause of their habit of slumping in a chair and restlessly squirming.There is nothing in the conventional dental chair to prevent a childfrom slumping down or wriggling sideways in a chair.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a very simplesupplemental seat which can be arranged on the conventional dental chairseat, and which will force a child to sit upright and remainsubstantially in one position.

A further object is to provide such a supplemental seat which can bearranged in position on the seat of a dental chair or the like, andwhich will remain in proper position without the use of straps or anyother fastening elements.

A further object is to provide such a supplemental seat having anupwardly projecting portion which must be straddled by the legs of achild, thus making it substantially impossible for the child to slide orwriggle sideways in the chair.

A further object is to provide such a device which is very simple inconstruction and economical to manufacture, and which may be very easilyplaced in position on the dental chair and removed therefrom for storagein a limited space.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent during the course of the following description.

In the drawing, I have shown one embodiment of the invention. In thisshowing,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a dental chair showing the presentdevice in position thereon,

Figure 2 is a plan view of the device, and

Figure 3 is a detailed sectional view on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Referring to Figure 1, the numeral I Il designates as a whole a dentalchair, although it will become apparent that the present invention isnot limited to use with a chair of this particular type, but may be usedwith other chairs, for example, barber chairs. The chair I is providedwith a seat II, back I2, arms I3 and supporting pedestal I4. In moststructures of this character, each arm is carried by the upper end of asuitable support I5, while the back I2 is carried by the upper ends of apair of supports IG. In a denta1 chair, the back I2 is provided at thetop thereof with the usual head rest I'I.

I'he device forming the subject matter of the present inventioncomprises a body which may be formed of any suitable material such assolid wood, plywood, plastic or the like. This y body is substantiallysemi-circular in shape as shown in Figure 2, corresponding generally tothe back portion of the conventional dental chair seat I I. At pointsequidistantly spaced on opposite sides of the center of the back edge 2lof the body, such edge contacts with the supports I t as indicated inFigure 2.

At opposite sides, the body is provided with lateral projections 22adapted to lie behind the supports I5, as indicated in Figure 2. Thewidth of the body 2li between the arms I5 is such that the edges of thebody are contactible with the arms I5 to prevent transverse movement ofthe body. The forward edge 24 of the body 2i] may be extended forwardlyas at 25 to increase the forward and rear dimension of the body 20 toincrease the stability of the supplemental seat.

Centrally of the Width of the body 26, and toward the forward edgethereof, is arranged a horn or abutment indicated by the numeral 26.This horn may be of the shape shown in Figures 2 and 3, the forward andrear ends being curved substantially semi-circularly as at 21 toincrease the comfort of the device in use and to eliminate any sharpedges which might be injurious. The horn 26 may be formed of wood asshown in Figure '3 and may be secured in position on the base 20 by woodscrews 28 or other suitable fastening elements. The entire body 20 andhorn 26 may be molded as an integral unit from a suitable plasticmaterial. If desired, the entire body and horn may be covered as at 30with leather, flexible sheet plastic or the like to improve theornamental appearance of the device and to provide it with a softersurface. Obviously the top of the seat body 2li and the horn 2B may bepadded, if desired.

Operation The device may be very quickly and easily placed in positionby tilting the back of the body upwardly relative to the front, tiltingone side of the body downwardly, and inserting such downwardly tiltedside beneath the corresponding chair arm I 3 and between the supports I5and I6. The opposite side of the body is then lowered and the body movedtoward such side of the chair, whereupon the back edge 2l is 10W- eredinto position on the seat II. The body 20 may be removed by reversingsuch procedure.

With the seat 20 in position, engagement of the back edge 2| with thesupports IS prevents rearward movement of the seat 20. The arrangementof the projections 22 just back of the supports l5 prevents forwardmovement of e'ther or both sides of the supplemental seat. The width ofthe seat or body adjacent the forward edge thereof approximates thedistance between the arms I5, and accordingly, these arms serve as stopsto` prevent transverse movement of the seat relative to the chair. Achild sits upon the seat 20, straddling the horn 2B, and this horn,engaging the upper portions of the legs of the child near the crotch,prevents the child from slumping down and sliding forwardly over thechair. The horn 26 also sliding or wriggling sideways' on the seat, andaccordingly, the device serves most effectively to hold the child inproper position tov` facilitate-.the performance of dental work.

The seat is comfortable for the child to use, there being no discomfort`introduced through the use of the horn 26. Moreover, by forcing a childto sit with his back erect, and with the slight elevation afforded bythe body 20, all except the smallest children will be better positionedfor the resting of the head against the head rest I1. In thisconnection, it may be noted that the supplemental seat may be made ofany desired thickness, for example, an inch or more. Moreover, the broadsurface of the body 20 presented to the dental seat Il and the reducedweight of a child compared to the weight of an adult results in areduced sinking of the body 20' relative to the upholstered seat Il.Thus a child will sit relatively higher in `a chair` to a degree greaterthan the thickness of the body 29.

The device, as stated, may be easily placed in position and removed. Itis of very simple construction and accordingly may be economicallymanufactured. Since the deviceis relatively thin, it can be readilystored in a limited space when not in use.

I claim:

1. A supplemental seatv for dental and similar` chairs provided with aseat having a semicircular rear portieri, arms and supports therefor,and a back and supports therefor, comprising a body adapted to bearranged on the seat of the chair, and a horn carried by and projectingupwardly from said body between the sides thereof and toward the forwardedge thereof to be straddled by the legs of a person sitting on saidbody, the back edge of said body being substantially semi-circular tocorrespond generally to the shape of the chair seat and to engageagainst supports for body at opposite sides thereof and adjacent thefront of the body having lateral projections engageable with supportsfor the chair arms.

prevents therchild from.

the back of the seat, said' 2. In combination with a dental or similarchair having a seat, Iand having arms and a back provided with upwardlyextending supports, a supplemental seat comprising a relatively flatbody having back edge portions contactible with the back supports tolimit rearward movement of said body, said body having opposite lateralprojections rearwardly of the chair arm supports and engageabletherewith to limit forward movement of said body relative to the chair,and a horn carried by and projecting upwardly from said bodyintermedi-ate the width and toward the forward edge of the body to bestraddled by the legs of a person seated upon said body, said horn beingarranged substantially rearwardly of the forwardedge of the chair seat.

. 3. In combination with a dental or like chair having a seat, andhaving arms and a back provided withv upwardly extending supports, asupplemental seat comprising a relatively at body theV rear edge ofwhich is engageable with the supports for the backof the chair to limitrearward movement of said body, the supports for the arms being arrangedsubstantially forwardly of the back supports and the sides of the chairbeing open reawardly of said arm supports, said body having oppositelateral projections arranged rearwardly of and adjacent the arm supportsand engageable therewith to prevent forward movement of said bodyrelative to the chair, said bodyt being of a width adjacent the armsupports approximating the distance between such supportsv to preventtransverse movement of said body relative to the chair, and a horncarried by and projecting upwardly from said body intermediate the widththereof and toward the front of said body and adapted to be straddled bythe legs of a person seated upon said body, said horn being arrangedsubstantially rearwardly of the forward edge of the chair seat.

LUCIAN C. HOLTZENDORFF.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 930,074 Jaspersen Aug. 3, 1909 1,247,161 Silverman Nov. 20,1917 1,444,521' Pearl Feb. 6, 1923 1,452,911 Gronsdahl Apr. 24, 19232,307,709 Ooton Jan. 5, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country DateA151,557 Great Britain Sept. 30, 1920

